Guilty pleasure Tuesday. I’m not sure there’s a better alliteration than that.
I’m going to make a few blanket statements here to get to my point. Everyone likes music. Everyone has a band or two that they like and they’d rather not share with people. Everyone calls those bands (or similar things not related to music) guilty pleasures. I’ve got a handful of bands or musicians I’d throw on that list. It’s mostly comprised of catchy pop singers, boy bands, or pop-rappers like Taio Cruz.
A key theme of my guilty pleasure list is female singers in bands. Ke$ha, Superchick, Go Betty Go, Damone. I enjoy the punk or pop punk music with the sweet vocal style that only ladies can offer.
I was watching “Stick It”, a wonderful movie about teenage gymnastics, today when I recognized a song by Damone in the background. Damone is, or was, a band out of Boston made up of guys playing instruments and a chick lead singer who plays too. They released their first album on a major label and then decided to ditch the label and set out on their own.
The first album, From the Attic, was written entirely by the guitarist. He took all of his songs about girls and changed the pronouns so that Noelle, the lead singer, could sing them. It is a poppy album that keeps the mood light and the tempo driving the whole time.
This is the first song I heard of theirs. I must have listened to this song on repeat for a couple of hours the day I discovered it.
Their single off this album was called “Frustrated Unnoticed.”
After this album, the guitarist decided to leave the band. They ditched the major label and started with an entirely different sound. Their sophomore release was called Out Here All Night. I like this album a lot despite the rock ballad they wrote called “When You Live” that appeared on it. I’m don’t mind the song by itself. I just don’t like to stop the rock in the middle of 12 fast paced songs for one rock ballad.
Their sound morphed into that similar to an 80s metal band. Heavier guitars, flashy solos and, of course, the leather jackets and shaggy black hair required by all rock musicians.
Their third album, Roll the Dice, wasn’t as good as Out Here All Night. It was of the same vein but held my excitement just a little bit less. I like the lead singer’s voice a lot. It’s definitely one of the things that has drawn me to this band. They have a heavy, hard rock sound yet a woman who can sing well and is easy to listen to.
I’ve actually purchased their first two albums three separate times. The first time I bought them on iTunes because I needed to hear them ASAP. The second time I ordered them used off of Amazon.com for cheap. Later, at a Half-Priced Books, I found them and got excited. Thinking, “I’ve never seen these anywhere!”
If you listen to these songs and find that you enjoy Damone and want to hear more of their stuff let me know. I’ll give you a good deal on their first two releases.